Outboard motor



May 8, 1934. P. R. TARR 1,958,119

OUTB OARD MOTOR Filed March 14, 1932 *l 4,.; ./f//f/ ESG A`Patented May 8, 1934A oUrB'oAnn Moron Philip R. Tarr, Akron, .0hio, assigner to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 14, 1932, Serial No. 598,545

10' Claims.

This invention relates to outboard motors and more particularly to the mounting structure of' such motors.

The chief objects of the invention are to provide for reducing to a large extent the transmission of vibration from the motor to the craft, the vibration having ardeteriorating effect on the structure of the craft and causing discomfort to the passengers, and to provide for such vibration reduction with compactness of structure and strength o! support and without lessening the effectiveness of the steering and pivoting functions of the motor or the facility of disassembly of the parts.

These and further objects will be apparent from. the'following description, reference rbeing had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is perspective view of an outboard motor constructed according to and embodying the invention in its preferred form.

Fig. 2 is a section taken along lthe line 2-2 of Fis. i.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2 but showing a, modified construction.

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line i- 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, the outboard motor of Fig. 1 comprises an upper engine portion 10, a swivel bracket 11, a drive shaft housing 12, a propeller 13, and a steering handle 14 all of known construction, and for mounting the motor on the craft there is provided a bracket 15 comprising upwardly diverging arms 16, 16 united at their lower ends and having at -their upper portions a pair of forwardly extending arms provided with clamping devices 17, 17 for securing the bracket in place upon the sternboard of a boat. At 16 the bracket is pivotally connected to a lug 19 i'orrning a rigid part of the swivel bracket 11 of the motor to permit the customary fore and aft tilting of Qthe motor.

The lower end of bracket 15 is provided with a pair ci rearwardly 'extending quadrant arms 2d, 2li and between these arms is positioned a halfcyiindrical thrust socket 21 for limiting forward tilting movement of the propeller end of the motor while permitting free rearward tilting thereof, as well as rotation of that portion of the drive shaft housing engaging the thrust socket, for steering. The thrust socket is provided with the usual clamp 22 :for securing it in its adjusted position on the quadrant, and the drive shaft housing comprises a locking device 23 of known v(Cl. 24S-14.2)

for a resilient, vibration dampening cushion at all necessary connections between these parts while providing for .adequate support of the motor and effective pivotingvof the swinging parts.

On the motor supporting shaft or pivot pin 18 (Fig. 2) there is mounted a pair of concentric sleeves 24, 25, preferably cylindrical, held spaced apart by a mass of resilient material 26, preferably resilient rubber composition in hollow cylindrical block form. The rubber may be in the form of a single block, or it may be composed of spaced sections, as indicated by the gap at 27, and the rubber may be recessed at one or more zones, as indicated at 27a, 27a, to render the rubber cushion more absorbtive of vibrations, especially of the transverse vibrations. 'For facilitating manufacture as to the sectional construction, the outer sleeve 25 may also be sectional, as shown.

The inner sleeve 24 is mounted for rotative movement upon the pin 18 and its ends preferably extend beyond the ends of the rubber and the outer sleeves and engage against the arms 16, 16 of the bracket to restrain the inner sleeve from transverse movement while permitting relative vibrating movement of the outer sleeve under the resilient resistance of the rubber. The outer sleeve is secured, as by a force fit or by a scre'w threaded connection, within the lug 19 of the swivel bracket 11. The rubber may be held between the sleeves 24 and 25 in any suitable manner, as by being held under compression between the sleeves, or by vulcanized adhesion to the sleeves. In order to guard the rubber against contact with oil or other harmful substance without hampering the vibration dampening action of the mounting the exposed ends of the rubber may be provided with flexible layers 28, 26 of a suitable resistant composition.

The mounting thus constructed is compact and aii'ords strength of support and effective dampening of motor vibrations in all directions, without, however, hindering the pivotal movements of the motor, and further, by merely removing the pivot pin 18, the motor may be readily detached'from the bracket 15, when desired.

Although the actual pivoting of the motor structure is preferably by means of rotation of the inner sleeve upon the supporting shaft, in some cases the required arc of swing of the motor structure issuiiiciently limited to render it expedient, if desired, to mount the shaft and the inner sleeve rigidly and to permit the motor structure and the outer sleeve to move through the limited arc by exure of the resilient rubber in torsion.

1n the modiiied construction of Fig. 3 a pivot pin 18a is rigidly secured, as by a set screw 29, within the aperture of the lug 19a that forms a part of the swivel bracket 11 of the motor. rThe ends of the pivot pin are rotatably received within rie respective sleeves 30, 30 concentric with respective hollow bushings 31, 31 mounted in opposed apertures in the upper ends of the bracket arms 16a, 16a. The sleeve 30 and bushing 31 are held in spaced apart relation by an intervening resilient cushion 32, preferably of resilient rubber composition that desirably is secured by vulcanized adhesion to both the inner sleeve and the bushing. For protecting the rubber cushion from oil and the like, the outer end of the bushing may be closed as shown, the adjacent end face of the rubber and of the inner sleeve preferably being spaced from the inner end wall of the bushing, as shown at 33, to facilitate absorption of the transverse vibrations of the motor by the rubber. The inner end face of the rubber may be provided with an oil resisting facing 34.

In order to avoid rubbing of metal parts due to the motor vibrations, especially the transverse vibrations, and to permit the vibrations to be transmitted directly to the rubber, it is desirable that means be provided for taking up end slack between the inner sleeves 30 and the pivot pin 18a, and for this the pivot pin may be shouldered, as at 35, 35, against which shoulders the ends of the inner sleeves may be abutted, the screw threaded connection of the bushing 31 in the bracket arms permitting adjustment for this. For this adjustment, the bushings 31, 31 are screwed toward each other, thus urging the outer portions of the rubber annuli axially toward each other while the inner portions of the annuli are held against a similar movement by the abutment of the inner sleeves 30, 30 against the shoulders 35, 35, and thereby causing the rubber to be placed under tension in the axial direction to press the sleeves against the abutments. By properly adjusting the two bushings, the supported lug 19a may be centered between the arms 16a, 16a. Besides eliminating looseness of the inner sleeve ends at the abutments despite the transverse vibrations of the supported structure, this construction has the advantage also that by varying the positions of the bushings 31, 3l in relation to one another to impart greater or less tension on the rubber, the resistance of the rubber to the vibratory movement is accordingly varied, the deflection for a given force being dependent upon the condition of initial stress of the rubber, and thus the vibration cushioning properties of the mounting can be adjustably varied for most satisfactory operation. Each bushing may be detachably secured in adjusted position by any suitable means, such as a set screw 36. It will be seen that in the construction of this embodiment, also, there are provided the advantages of compactness, ruggedness, ease of detachability and adjustability and effective dampening of vibrations in all directions without hampering the pivotal functions of the mounting.

It is desirable to provide a cushion of rubber also at the thrust socket 20, to constitute the motor proper wholly rubber insulated from the bracket 15 and thus from the boat, and this may be effected by the construction of Fig. 4 without hindrance to the steering and reversing movements of the shaft casing at the thrust socket.

The concave face of the thrust socket may be provided with a cushion 37, preferably of resilient rubber composition adhered to the socket and preferably formed on its exposed face with alternate, vertically-extending ridges land grooves, the ridges preferably having convex surfaces 38, 38 adapted to contact the surface of the shaft casing to facilitate transverse sliding movement of the metal surface against theridges during steering. Due to the fact that this thrust socket in the ordinary use of the motor is usually close enough to the water so that the turbulence causes some water to be splashedupon it, the rubbing surfaces are usually well lubricated during operation, although for the relatively small pressures and amount of movement ordinarily imposed on these particular bearing parts, lubrication is not usually required. Passage of the water to the rubbing surface is facilitated by the grooves of the rubber and by the convex surfaces.which cause the water to be wiped in between the surfaces of the rubber and shaft casing during the sliding movement of these parts. Also the vibration dampening function of the lrubber cushion is facilitated by the grooved construction which lessens stiffness in that part of the rubber contacting the casing. The cushion also acts to reduce the shock of impact when the motor is permitted to swing against it, asv when the motor swings back to its normal position after the striking of the lower part of the housing against an obstruction when underway.

The lower part of the bracket 15 may if desired be provided with a cushioning device, such as that illustrated most clearly in Fig. 5, to dampen vibrations that might result from a lack of rigidity in the sternboard of the boat to which the bracket is clamped at its upper portion. This cushioning device may comprise a pair of blocks 39, 39 of rubber or other cushioning material of cylindrical or other shape mounted on the bracket, as by means of suitable holders 40, 40

secured to the bracket, the arrangement being such that the rubber blocks project forward from the bracket and are compressed against the sternboard of the boat when the bracket is clamped thereto. The rubber blocks are preferably grooved peripherally at 41, 41 to facilitate compression of the block in the holder, and the boat engaging ends of the blocks may be provided with caps 42, 42 secured to the rubber for protection of the latter and, by small projections formed in the faces of the caps, for engagingthe wood of the sternboard to resist rubbing of the block against the Wood under excessive vibration. Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined in the following claims.

- Whatis claimed is: 1 1. An outboard motor assembly comprising, in combination, a bracket structure having spaced apart members and a hollow bushing mounted on each of said members a motor structure having a supporting element comprising projecting end 130 portions positioned within said bushings, resilient -cushions held between the end portions of the supporting element and said bushings, sleeves interposed between the resilient Vcushions and the end portions of the supporting element and 135 rotatable on the latter, and means limiting the movement of said sleeves toward each other, said bushings being adjustable in said members to vary their positions in the directions toward and away from each other.

2. An outboard motor assembly comprising, in combination, Va. mounting bracket, a motor structure pivotally connected with said bracket, and a thrust socket on said bracket spaced from said pivotal connection and slidably engaging said 145 motor structure, said thrust socket having a facing of resilient rubber composition comprising convex ridges contacting the motor structure and extending transversely to the direction of the sliding movement. 150

notaire 3. A resilient supporting connection comprising n noir or relatively movable structures, a rubber cushion so held in tension between seid ystructuures in non-separating relation thereto as to tend to pull one oi them relstive to the other, end ineens other then the supported load for resisting such movement While nevertheless permitting' reletive movement oi the structures under the resilient resistence of the cushion.

d. A resilient connection as defined in claim 3 comprising ineens ior ediustobiy varying the degree of tension in said rubber cushion.

o. A resiiient connection es defined in cleim 3 which the resisting ineens comprises e second rubber cushion heid in tension between the said structures in e. direction to oppose the tendency ci the first seid cushion to conse relative moveoi the structine A resilient connection comprising e peir oi relatively movnbie structures having specerit, suhstmticiiy pei-alici surfaces, e rubber cion so heid in tension between said surfaces einem l noneeparnting relation thereto es to tend to their inner -faces, said cushions being held tensioned so as to tend to pull the structure in axial directions opposing each other and the cushions being so held independently oi influence of the supported leed.

B. A resilient connection as dened in claim 7 comprising means for adjustably varying with relation to each other the axial spacings of the radially inner and outer portions of the said rubber cushions to vary the degree of tension in the cushions.

9. A resilient connection comprising, in combination, a structure having spaced apart members and a hollow bushing mounted on each of Asaid members, a second structure comprising an element having' portions positioned Within said bushings, resilient cushions disposed between said element andthe bushings, means ior adjusting said bushings sind thereby the adjacent portions oi the cushions in the direction toward each other lwhile the portions or' the cushions adjacent said element are held against a similar movement.

iii. A resilient connection comprising a pair oi relatively movable structures, a rubber cushion so held in tension between said structures in non-separating relation thereto as to tend to pull one or them relative to the other, the rubber cushion being so held independently of influence oi the supported load, and resilient means for resisting the pull While nevertheless permitting relative movement oi the structures under the resilient resistance of the cushion.

PHXLIP R. TARE.

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